


Epiphany

by GabyU07



Category: Naruto
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26066590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GabyU07/pseuds/GabyU07
Summary: It was supposed to be an easy mission.Nothing to worry about.How wrong they were.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 9
Kudos: 39





	1. Parting Ways

**Author's Note:**

> I truly hate myself for writing this and I might have cried while doing it, especially since those rumors surrounding Boruto.
> 
> In case it’s not clear, the parts in italics are dreams and memories, and the parts like ‘this’ in italics are thoughts. Also this is supposed to be a SasuSakuNaru story, so be warned.
> 
> Either way, I’m sorry if I make you cry with this. I won’t tell you that you enjoy reading it but...enjoy and tell me what you think!

“Be careful okay?” She said for like the tenth time that morning. 

“We will” Sasuke inwardly rolled his eyes but tried to soothe her by giving her the tiniest of smiles, completely imperceptible to the rest of the world but not to her. 

“And don’t do anything stupid”. 

“We never do anything stupid Sakura-chan” Naruto smiled brightly at her.

She just crossed her arms, raising an skeptical eyebrow at him. 

“Alright, almost never” He offered but her expression remained the same. He sighed before saying in defeat. “We won’t do anything stupid”. 

“Thank you” She grinned, loosening her arms and then hugging Sasuke since he was closer to her. 

“We’ll be back tomorrow, first thing in the morning” He pulled slightly away from her just to plant a quick but meaningful kiss on her lips that made her heart skip a beat and left her with a faint blush on her face.

“You promise?”. She questioned, moving to hug Naruto as well. 

Sasuke just nodded while he watched Naruto embrace her in tight hug. She looked up at him to ask him the same question but he was fast to catch her lips with his, not giving her a chance to talk. 

“We promise” He breathed once he pulled away from her.

She felt the heat crawling up her cheeks as she flushed, again, and then shook her head. ‘ _Idiots, they are going to give me a heart attack one of these days’_.

“Come back to me safe” She said more serious this time as she glanced at both of them, _her boys_. 

“You won’t have the chance to miss us Sakura-chan” Naruto reassured her, giving her one of those beautiful smiles of his.

“Hn”. 

She watched as they turned from her and began making their way through the village’s gates. She stayed until they disappeared from her view, a jab of pain going through her chest. 

She already missed them so much. 

She sighed and pushed away those thoughts, walking absently towards the hospital. She couldn’t be depressed right now, she had to put on a gentle smile on her face to attend the absurd amount of patients that were entering Konoha’s hospital these days as a result of someone spreading the word of it having the best medics across all the lands. People started calling them “miracle workers”. She scoffed mentally ‘ _yeah right, we still can’t bring dead people back so’._ This whole mess was actually the reason why she couldn’t go with Naruto and Sasuke this time. Tsunade had asked her to make an extra shift due to the high demand on the hospital aside of the fact that they were falling short on the medics on duty that week, so she couldn’t really say no even when every fiber on her body told her not to let the boys go without her. 

Since they managed to bring Sasuke back to the village, the three of them had been inseparable, going to basically every mission together as a team, like it should be. Despite her working at the hospital, she still managed to go to almost every mission with them, having missed one or two at most. They spent almost every waking moment in each other’s company: they ate together, trained together, hell, they even lived together. So it wasn’t really a secret how much they loved each other and how much they cared for one another. 

Whoever looked at them would think they shared the special bond of a friendship forged out of many years and suffering spent together, but the truth is it was _so much_ more. She loved them both and they loved her, and it wasn’t just the friendship type of love or even the romantic type, it was much more than that. They would go to hell and back for the other, they would die for each other and they were pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to live much if one of them were to die. It was like they were different parts of a whole and they were more than fine with it. They didn’t think of each other as just friends, or lovers or anything, they were beyond any existing title, so it was only natural for both men to kiss her just for the sake of it, without any malice. 

Her musings came to an end when she found herself in the gates of the hospital. She took a deep breath, straightened herself, put on a smile and entered the place, ready to do what she did best: heal people. 

* * *

It was past 5am when she managed to escape to her office to catch a break, even if it was for just a few minutes. She had spent all day and night, since Naruto and Sasuke left, at the hospital without eating, sleeping or even sitting once. To say she was tired was an understatement. 

She sat at her desk, crossing her arms above it and then laid her head on them. She figured she could sleep for at least an hour before continuing her work and before the boys were back. After a few minutes, the exhaustion won her over and she drifted to a peaceful sleep. 

...

_She dreamed with Team 7. They were kids again, in their first training camp having lunch after a hard morning of training with Kakashi-Sensei. The sky was bright blue and the sun was shining above them, they were all seated in a large blanket, eating and smiling. Naruto was making the fool of himself like always, trying to make Sakura laugh to which Sasuke was rolling his eyes while he ate a rice ball, and Kakashi was his usual self, grinning at them with his Icha Icha book opened in his hands. It was a happy dream, the kind she enjoyed having._

_After a while the scene changed. It was dusk and kakashi was gone, it was just her and her boys at the training grounds now. The three of them were standing in the middle of it, Naruto and Sasuke were looking at her with weird expressions on their faces._

_“Boys? Is-is something wrong?” She inquired a little bit nervous. Something about their looks didn’t like her, at all._

_“Everything is fine Sakura-chan” Naruto grinned at her but for some reason, the smile didn’t reach his eyes._

_“Don’t lie to me”._

_“You will be fine” Sasuke said putting a hand on her shoulder for a moment._

_“What are you talking about?”. Something was wrong, there was something they weren’t telling her._

_Naruto took a quick glance at Sasuke, hoping that Sakura didn’t notice their exchange, but she did._

_“You know we love you right?”. He asked her, suddenly pulling her into a hug._

_She hesitantly hugged him back, tightly. “Of course I do. And I love you both but wh-“._

_She pulled away and saw his eyes were shining...with unshed tears. What the hell is happening?_

_“Can you promise us something?” Sasuke asked catching her attention._

_“Umm yes, sure” She said a little confused and somewhat scared. She didn’t like where this was going._

_He took a deep breath as if trying to cool himself. “Promise us that you will move on. Whatever it happe-if something happens, you will live your life”._

_She heard what he said but her mind simply refused to process the request. No. Of course not. If something were to happen to them...no, she couldn’t even think about it because it was impossible, it was out of question, nothing could happen to them because the three of them had to be together, always._

_“Sakura” Sasuke called her, dragging her out of her thoughts._

_She looked at him. “No”._

_He sighed and turned to Naruto. The latter took a step towards her._

_“Sakura-chan, this is important to us. If something were to happen to you, you would want us to move on and be happy right?”._

_Of course she wanted that. If something happened to her, she wouldn’t want them to be depressed or do something stupid. She would want them to be happy and carry on, but-_

_“Yes but why would you want me to promise that? You’ll be here in a few hours and we’ll be together again right?”. She needed them to reassure her that._

_“Yeah, we will” Sasuke said finally after a moment. “But you have to promise us that first, okay?”._

_“Why is that so important?!” She snapped. She didn’t like any of this._

_“Is important to us” Naruto said seriously, then noticing that it was unlike him, he smiled. “Please Sakura-chan?”._

_She stared at both of them. They were looking at her, trying to calm her down in silent plea with their eyes. She sighed._

_“Okay fine, I promise”._

_“See? That wasn’t so hard right?” Naruto beamed at her._

_“I hate you both”. She smacked him on the shoulder._

_“Ouch! Don’t be mean to me Sakura-chan” Naruto pouted._

_“You might hate us but we love you”._

_Sasuke startled her with the sudden confession since he usually wasn’t that open to admit any emotion, something that only got worse when he reached and hugged her tightly, burying his face on her hair._

_“Don’t do anything stupid” He said ever so lightly as he pulled away._

_She gave him a puzzled look before being pulled to Naruto’s arms._

_“We will wait for you”. He whispered in her ear before letting her go._

_She didn’t have time to think about what they had just said because they smiled at her before turning around and start getting away from her. She tried to follow them but it was as if an invisible barrier was keeping her from going to them. No matter what she did, she couldn’t step forward and they were getting further and further away from her._

_“Sasuke! Naruto! Wait!” She cried desperately but they just kept walking._

_“Please! Don’t leave me-_

_..._

Alone”. 

She woke up, lifting her head so quickly she felt dizzy. She stayed like that for a moment, trying to process what she had dreamed about when she noticed her arms were wet. ‘ _What?_ ’ She thought before her unconsciously touching her cheeks with her fingertips. Wet. She had been crying in her sleep. 

‘ _Why did I even dream that? It doesn’t make sense’_ she mused, making her way to grab a coffee at the lunch room of the hospital. After getting over the shock of the dream, she had quickly cleaned her face and gotten out of her office since she was already late, being now 7am, and she had work to do before going to welcome her boys. 

* * *

At the lunch room, she moved to grab only a mug of coffee despite not having eaten anything in almost 24 hours. She couldn’t bring herself to eat something, having an uneasy feeling at the pit of her stomach. On her way to a table, she was intercepted by a fellow doctor who attempted to small talk her, something she actually thanked so she could distract herself a little. A few minutes passed when a nurse rushed in the room, a panicked expression on her face. 

“Sakura-san!”. 

Sakura on the other side paled but kept her composure. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked quickly.

The nurse gave her something close to a pitiful look. “Your teammates have been brought here, they...they are in critical condition”.

Her heart stopped. Her hands stopped working as the mug she was holding fell to floor, shattering in pieces while she began to run towards the emergency room.

‘ _No, no, no, no, please Kami-sama, please I beg you, not them, please, PLEASE!’_ Hallways passed by in a blur as she forced her legs to go faster. Her heart felt as if was trying to break out of her chest and she couldn’t see well because of the tears that were spilling out her eyes.

When she finally reached the emergency room and took in the sight before her, she felt her chest tightened and she couldn’t breath, the air didn’t want to come in. 

They were laying in stretchers, their skin was white as a sheet and it was safe to say that most of their blood was soaking their uniforms as well as pooling on the floor beneath them. They had multiple cuts and lacerations across their limbs and face but the most unsettling view was their chest. Their uniforms had been cut out in the middle of it to expose their torso, which each had from three to four holes (because there was no other way to describe it as the injuries were just too big to be considered mere stabs) that were bleeding profusely non stop. The whole thing was so surrealist that her mind was rejecting it. 

Three medics were attending them, Tsunade and Shizune being two of them. Once the blonde saw Sakura standing there without moving, she send the third medic to go and take her somewhere else. She didn’t need to be there or wanted her to be there. This was too much for her dear apprentice but much to her (not really) surprise, Sakura didn’t move. Instead she began to struggle with the medic that was trying to get her out of there. 

_‘I have to do something, I can’t just let them die!’_ Was all she could think about as she struggled with a new pair of arms that wanted to pull her away from them. She couldn’t leave them, not now. She let out a painful cry, making Tsunade’s eyes fix on hers for a second. 

“Shishou please! Let me help them, _please_ ” Her voice broke. 

Tsunade sighed but nodded. “Alright, let her in”.

Sakura slowly got near them but before she could do anything, Tsunade stopped her putting her hands on both of her shoulders. 

“I need you to be strong, if you can’t do this is okay, just go and we’ll take care of them”.

Sakura swallowed the knot in her throat, keeping at bay her tears and trying her best to calm her trembling hands, but nonetheless she nodded and Tsunade let her go, quickly returning to her task on Sasuke’s body. 

She rushed to Naruto to help Shizune with him but as soon as she was beside him and gave him a proper inspection, she froze. He was way worse than she had believed when she first saw him from afar a few moments ago. Aside from the cuts and the horrible view of his chest, all his body was littered with bruises and blood was coming out of one side of his head as well as his nose and mouth, but what disturbed her most was that the didn’t have a pained expression. His face despite of being bruised and covered in blood and dirt, had a peaceful expression, you could say he almost was _smiling_. 

And that’s when Sakura’s mind just _broke_. 

Her consciousness shut down and her mind dissociated from the present. She didn’t faint or anything, in fact, her medic instincts kicked in and her hands began to glow green, moving across Naruto’s body. But she wasn’t there, her body was acting on its own while her mind was being haunted with flashbacks of the past. Happy memories that were about to become painful and destroy her soul in the process. 

...

_She was completely exhausted. She had been in the hospital for 48 hours now without catching a break. Honestly at this point she could easily pass out while just talking to a patient. She couldn’t wait to get out of there and take a bath or freaking eat something else than coffee!_

_She sneaked into her office to close her eyes for just a minute. It was around 8pm and the lights were off so her office was dark, but still, the moment she set foot in it she sensed a presence._

_“For the love of Kami-sama, what NOW?!” She almost shouted with a murderous intent destined to the intruder._

_However, despite her best effort to look menacing, the visitor didn’t react. Instead, he moved faster than her sleep deprived mind could handle and pulled her over his shoulder to immediately jump effortlessly out of her (third floor) window, still carrying her. Much to her dismay, she couldn’t suppress the scream that left her mouth the minute she sensed them in midair._

_“Don’t be so dramatic Sakura-chan, you know I won’t drop you” Naruto snickered at the girl perched in his shoulder._

_“NARUTO! PUT. ME. DOWN!” She shouted punching his back with chakraless fist (she was too tired to even think about it)._

_“Sorry, can’t do that” He hummed, casually making his way to the entrance of the hospital where another figure was waiting for them._

_“Hn, took you long enough dobe” Sasuke smirked from his leaned position against a wall._

_Sakura glared at him. “YOU! You were in this too!?”._

_“It’s not my fault she wouldn’t go to her office teme!” Naruto retorted ignoring the struggling girl in his arms._

_“You two are SO dead once this asshole puts me down” she crossed her arms above Naruto’s back, glaring holes at both men._

_Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Whatever. We weren’t going to let you spend your birthday looking like a walking corpse”._

_‘What? My birthday?’ Sakura’s anger dropped instantly and she stopped struggling upon hearing the dark haired man. She did the math and yes, effectively it was her birthday, how could she forget about that? ‘Maybe it was the lack of sleep and food for 48 hours’ her mind offered. But they remembered it and didn’t want her to spend her birthday in those conditions. She felt her heart swell and embarrassment quickly took place with a deep blush on her cheeks._

_“Oh” Was all Sakura could mutter as both men began walking to the downtown, with her still in Naruto’s shoulder._

_“Not gonna fight anymore?” Sasuke asked sarcastically raising an eyebrow at the girl in front of him._

_“No need to be an idiot about it!” She scowled but relaxed quickly enough, an embarrassed expression on her face. “I’m sorry”._

_“Next time, you are carrying her teme” Naruto laughed, earning himself a small smack on the back on his head._ _“Hey I’m just kidding!”._

_“Idiot” She said in pretend anger crossing her arms. “Where are we going?”._

_“To your favorite restaurant of course” Naruto told her happily._

_A small smile graced her lips, she loved them so much. “Thank you guys, really”._

_“Hn” Sasuke smirked at her._

_“Anytime Sakura-chan!” Naruto grinned at her but then added mockingly. “You know, you could’ve changed your clothes first”._

_“Naruto...you are a dead man” She deadpanned._

_Sasuke sighed. “Don’t listen to him, you know he is-_

_..._

-bleeding out”. 

“What?” She was brought back to the present. 

“He is bleeding out Sakura, we need to stop it!” Shizune said urgently. 

Sakura forced her mind back to the painful present and what she had in front of her. Naruto was bleeding out in front of her and despite her and Shizune’s efforts, he didn’t seem to be getting any better. They had managed to heal most of the minor injuries but the bigger ones were taking too much time and chakra, it was like they didn’t want to be sealed and he had already lost too much blood. His breathing was shallow and she couldn’t feel his pulse. 

“Please Naruto, please come back” She muttered, silent tears rolling down her face while she kept pumping her chakra into Naruto’s body. 

“I can’t feel his heart beating”. Someone said to her left, where Sasuke was. 

“What?”. Her hands stopped once she heard those words as she rushed to Sasuke’s side. 

“Sakura, don’t-“ Tsunade put a hand on her shoulder. 

“NO! I. Can’t. Just. Give. Up” She said as she began doing CPR on Sasuke’s chest. 

“He lost too much blood, it’s usele-“.

“I SAID NO!” She snapped back at her teacher before returning to her task. 

Tsunade crossed gazes with Shizune, who was still working on Naruto. They knew that both men weren’t going to make it. They had already arrived in critical condition and with just too much blood lost. In reality, they should have died on the spot with the severity of the injuries they sustained. How their hearts were still beating at this point, was beyond their medical knowledge. 

“Come back Sasuke” She pleaded, sweat and tears making her hair stick to her face. 

“Sakura” Tsunade called her. 

“YOU FUCKING PROMISED IT SASUKE!” She punched his chest but kept massaging his heart with her hands. “You both promised it...”

She put her lips over his to begin with the mouth-to-mouth just to once again, dissociate herself from the present and her body. Her masochist mind throwing her to a sea of memories for her to drown in them. 

...

_She was panting. ‘This fucking asshole’ she glared at Sasuke, trying to collect herself as quickly as possible but failing miserably when another wave of kunai and shuriken were thrown in her direction. She managed to jump out of their range but she still wasn’t fast enough to avoid a kunai that dug itself on her right leg._

_“Are you fucking kidding me Sasuke?!” She growled, taking the kunai out of her leg and examining the damage._

_“What? We are practicing” He shrugged._

_“This” She pointed to her joggers. “Were new! Is like the fifth one I’ve had to buy in less than two weeks!”._

_“Hn. It’s not my fault you are so slow”._

_“What?!” She fumed._

_“Even Ino is faster than you”._

_‘Oh no you didn’t!’ She thought, fists glowing with chakra and steps leaving holes on the ground as she strode towards Sasuke with murder intent._

_“YOU are going to regret saying that Sasuke-kun” She hissed dangerously._

_He just smirked at her and that was it. She launched at him, throwing him punches: at his face, at his arms, at his chest, every single one of them not even getting an inch close to him. ‘Sneaky bastard’ she thought while they were just blurs to the untrained eyes. She tried kicking him, but again, the idiot deflected it. She was losing her patience and lost the last bit when he not only managed to dodge a fist aimed to erase that stupid grin off his face but gave her a punch that actually landed on her stomach, making her lose her breath momentarily._

_‘You are dead’ she quickly straightened herself and gathering all the chakra she could in one fist, she hit the ground below her._

_“Shannaro!”._

_The earth shattered where they were standing, pieces of dirt and rocks flying everywhere as a big hole appeared in the middle of the clearing they were training in. He was caught off guard with the sudden rumbling (he didn’t think she was going to use that technique so close to the village) and she used this opportunity to catch him at mid jump, sending them flying a few feet away, rolling on the ground. She used her strength to pin him on the ground._

_“I told you were going to regret it” She smirked evilly._

_“Hn”. He stared at her._

_“I won”._

_His eyes narrowed and then faster than she thought he could be, he flipped them over and now his face was hovering right above hers._

_“Are you sure about that?”._

_“Asshole” She mumbled despite the blush that appeared on her cheeks as a result of him being that stupidly close to her face._

_“Annoying” He said back, staring down at her flushed face._

_Then without warning, he crashed his lips to hers. She was shocked, it was the first time he had kissed her. She had dreamed about this countless of times when she was younger (and stupid) but this was even better. She quickly started kissing him back and before they knew it, a kiss that began gently was becoming more and more heated. That until-_

_“Ejem”._

_“N-naruto” She stuttered, her face even more red than before._

_“About time teme!” He raised his arms dramatically in the air._

_Sasuke glared at him. “Dobe”_

_“Seriously, I was beginning to think to you were gay or something” He mocked him._

_“Shut up” He grunted while he stood up and helped Sakura to her feet._

_Naruto studied them for a moment, then shrugged. “I kissed her first”._

_Naruto began to walk back to the village and Sasuke quickly followed, a small smirk on his lips (he already knew that). Sakura stared at them in utter disbelief before making her way to them, striding angrily behind them. ‘Those fucking idiots!’._

_“You both are-_

_..._

-dead”. 

‘ _No_ ’.

“Sakura”.

’ _Anyone but them’._

“Both of them are dead”. 

‘ _No, no, please no’._

“Sakura, look at me”.

She raised her face from Sasuke’s pale lips to meet a pair of hazel eyes that stared painfully at her. Tsunade put her hands on Sakura’s shoulders, to stop her and force her to look at her. 

“Sakura...they are gone”.

“N-no, I-I can-“. Sakura sobbed, tears glistening in her eyes. 

“There is nothing you or anyone else can do now Sakura, they are _dead_ ”. 

“Th-they can’t...”

“Please Sakura, you have to accept it, they are gone”. She begged, hugging her student. 

But Sakura wasn’t listening anymore. Also she wasn’t crying anymore or breathing actually. She pulled away from her teacher and looked at her with empty eyes.

“Can you give me a moment with them?” Her voice came out devoid of any emotion. 

Tsunade studied her for a minute and nodded, sending out everyone in room. Then she gave Sakura a last glance before leaving. 

“I’m sorry” She whispered and then disappeared, leaving her apprentice to say one last goodbye to her teammates.

As soon as Sakura was sure she was alone, she got closer to each of them, taking her time to stroke their messy hair, pushing locks of it out of their faces and softly caressing their faces. Then she stood in between their stretchers and just stared at them. If she ignored all the blood covering them and the grotesque wounds on their chest, it was almost as if they were just sleeping. Their expressions blissfully calm, unaware the outside world, unaware of her breaking heart. And if the moment wasn’t bad enough, her mind provided her one last memory. 

...

_It had been a long training session with Kakashi-sensei and they were completely drained. The three of them had slumped at the shadow of a tree to rest for a moment and without noticing, they had fallen asleep. In their sleep, they had managed to move closer to each other, Sakura being in the middle with both boys on either of her sides. Kakashi had found them like that, smiling softly at them, he covered them with a blanket and let them sleep for a while._

_Sakura was the first one to wake up. She opened her eyes and instantly noticed the heat surrounding her. Carefully and without moving, she glanced at the two sleeping figures at both of her sides: Naruto was on her right and Sasuke was on her left, both laying on their backs. They weren’t hugging her, in fact, there were a few inches between the three of them. Both of their faces were turned towards her and they had their hands stretched in her direction, lightly touching her as if to make sure she was there, safe between them._

_She sat, doing her best not to move too much so they wouldn’t wake up, then she just stared at them. They looked so peaceful in contrast to when they were awake: Sasuke was always frowning at everyone and everything, and Naruto always tried to have the brightest smile on his face, even when he really not felt like smiling. Now they just looked so calm, like little kids taking a nap after playing too much. A smile made its way to her lips. ‘You two are never done protecting me, are you? Even in your sleep’ she thought moving her hands to lightly stroke their hair._

_“Thank you” She whispered ever so lightly that she almost didn’t hear herself._

_And she was. She was thankful for having them by her side, taking care of her and protecting her. She kept stroking their hair, watching their chest rising and falling with each breath they took._

_Breath in._

_Breath out._

_..._

She observed their unmoving chest and her knees just gave out. She fell to the floor, the fact that her clothes were staining with their blood, being the last thing on her mind. She stared at her hands, soaked with the red liquid and then embraced herself. For a moment she lost track of everything and just shut herself down. Her vision went black, she kept hearing a ringing in her ears, her throat was burning and she was losing her breath. 

* * *

_(Out of her mind and in the real world, an ear piercing and heart shattering cry could be heard across the entire hospital and to those with sharp earing. A chill ran down the spine of the people hearing it, making them know all the suffering and grief that carried that single scream)._

* * *

Only when her lungs gave out, she realized what the ringing was, it was her. She had screamed with all of her self, finally letting out the pain she had felt since the moment that nurse entered the lunch room. Tears were falling non stop from her eyes to the floor, blending with their blood. 

“You left me alone...” She said hoarsely now that her vocal cords were sore. 

She didn’t know exactly how long she stayed like that, sitting on the bloody floor between the bodies of the two people she had come to love with her entire life and with only one thought on her mind.

‘ _They did it again, they left me behind’._

And this time, _she couldn’t follow_ _them._


	2. Together Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t just leave this ending SO depressing, so I decided to write this. Hopefully it will make it better.
> 
> It’s not necessarily that happy but I guess is the happiest ending this can have. 
> 
> Please tell me what you think!

  
It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining above, the sky was the bluest blue everyone could remember and the village was at peace, it had been for a long time now. 

It was 3pm and Sakura let out a longing sigh. She reclined on her chair and played absently with a string of her hair. It was short now, since that day, she never wore it long again, and it wasn’t that pink anymore, but more of a faded pink now that white hair was blending with it. She glanced out of the window and mused about how her life had been so far. 

After she lost Sasuke and Naruto, it took her a long time to recover and heal. Weeks and months went by where she wouldn’t eat or sleep without screaming herself awake. She didn’t know where the water in her body came from to form new tears since she didn’t even drink water those days. Weeks passed before she could actually set foot inside her house, because it was _their_ house, the place the three of them came to call home, but it wasn’t that for her anymore, not without _them._ Once she could manage to stay in that place for more than an hour without having a panic attack, she didn’t go outside again, not for many months at least, even when the memories inside that house were slowly killing her. And if she was completely honest, she just wanted to die, but she knew she couldn’t because she had promised them she would live. She hated herself for promising such a stupid thing, ‘ _they left me alone, they have no idea how this feels’._ For some time, sadness shared its place with anger, anger at them for leaving her, for making her promise not to follow them when that’s all she wanted to do. Then, sadness was what was left, sadness and emptiness. She doesn’t know for sure how long things were like this, where the only thing she did voluntarily was breathing, and her nights and days were plagued with nightmares and screams. 

But things got better, slowly but steady. Even when Naruto and Sasuke were her everything and she felt so alone when they were gone, she realized she was never truly alone. She still had her friends and they helped her through it. Kakashi, Ino, Tsunade, Sai, Shikamaru, all of them, never left her alone and they shared her pain. And so, she began to eat again (Sai even went as far as to feed her on the mouth, earning himself a smack from time to time), she began to go out of the house and take care of her wellbeing (She let Ino buy her new clothes and take her out without pulling so much of a fight), she began to train again (Kakashi made sure to go easy on her the first few times even she almost breaks his ribs with a single punch), she began to have more calmer days and nights without nightmares (Shikamaru made his personal hobby to beat the hell out of her in shogi and often spent the night at her place. They all rotated in staying the nights with her) and finally she slowly began to go back to the place she loved most: the hospital (Tsunade staying always by her side and not giving her alone shifts even when she said she was fine). 

Things could never be the same for her, because a part of her died with them that day. How could it? They were the loves of her life and she lost them both on the same day. But eventually, she found herself coming to terms with a new normal. After so much time drowning in grief and pain, she was letting herself _live_ again. She had promised them to carry on and she would commit to that promise until her last breath. Of course, things weren’t always perfect and happy, as there would be days where her chest would hurt and where she wouldn’t be able to breath because there was something oppressing her heart and lungs, where the memories would be too much and the tears wouldn’t cease to fall. Days where she thought she couldn’t keep going anymore and dark thoughts clouded her mind, making her fall to an abyss of sadness and grief. But every time, she would find the strength to fight back that darkness, for _them._

So years passed by and she got better, bit by bit, step by step. She moved to a new apartment, a smaller one since that house had too many memories she just couldn’t ignore, but she kept the house, never letting it fade away and visiting it when she was feeling nostalgic. She rarely went on field missions anymore, dedicating her full time to the hospital and to develop new healing techniques. She had a few romances every now and then but nothing serious, nothing permanent, because she didn’t feel comfortable with it, no one could ever be _them._ This however didn’t mean she wasn’t happy, because she was, in her own way by helping people and taking care of her friend’s families, but never having one of her own. She might have dreamed about having one, but she wasn’t that person anymore, and she was content with what she had now. 

She was drawn out of her thoughts when she heard a small knock on the door of her office. 

“Come in” She said turning the chair to face the visitor. 

“Hokage-sama”. 

“Shika...I’ve told you a million times not to call me like that. You’re my friend”.

“Sorry Sakura” He grinned scratching the back of his neck. “I guess I got used to it during meetings”.

“Well, you better _unused_ yourself then” She said in calm but menacing tone. 

“Fine, fine, understood” He said in defeat, lifting his hands in the air. 

“What happened?”.

“Nothing, I just came to check if you are done signing the paperwork”.

She sighed. “I think I’m almost done, give me half an hour and I’ll have it done”.

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it... _Hokage-sama_ ”. 

“Seriously?”.

“But Hoka-“

Without putting much thought to it, she gracefully took the kunai she always carried with her and threw it in the direction of her advisor. Sadly, he managed to close the door before the weapon could reach its destination. 

‘ _He will think twice before teasing me after Temari is done with him’_ she thought evilly, imagining all the things she was about to say to say to the blonde woman. Either way, even when she had been Hokage for a few good years now, she still wasn’t used to the honorific. She blamed it to not liking people be so formal with her but she knew deep down, that wasn’t it. The reason behind it was much more simple but also sad, and it was that her mind still refused to acknowledge that title in her person when almost all of her life she thought she would be calling Naruto like that. 

She never planned to become Hokage, it wasn’t her dream after all, it was Naruto’s. She was perfectly happy with just being the head of the Konoha’s hospital as well as the head of the entire health department of the village. She had earned those titles after basically dedicating her life to the hospital and to the new healing techniques that allowed her and all those who she taught to be able to save almost everyone that went through those doors. After not being able to save Naruto and Sasuke, she didn’t allow anyone else to die on her watch, even when she almost killed herself in the process a few times. So once Kakashi stepped out of his duties as Hokage, he asked (more like begged) Sakura to take his place as he thought there was no one more fitted for the position. She refused at first but when she thought of Naruto...she just knew she had to do it because _he_ wasn’t there to do it, and she would do it in his memory. 

Apparently, she must have been doing something right because peace and prosperity reigned during all the years she had been Hokage. She pushed away those thoughts while she finished all her paperwork and after a few minutes Shikamaru entered her office again. 

She held up a single finger as she signed the last paper. “Done!”.

She said happily lifting her pen and stretching on her chair. A sharp jab of pain went through her lower back and she hissed. ‘ _Damnit, I hate getting old’._

“Be careful there Hokage-sama, you wouldn’t like having to use a cane, would you?” He mocked her in a fake innocent tone. 

“You do have a death wish Nara” She deadpanned. 

“I just worry about you” He said just _too_ sweetly for her liking. 

“I can still kick your ass Shikamaru, so don’t _push_ it”.

He snickered. “Alright, alright. So troublesome”.

“I should get a new advisor…” She rambled under her breath while she organized her desk. 

“Is everything done?”.

“Yeah, here” She handed him a large stack of papers.

“If you’re done here, what else will you be doing today?”. He asked her while taking the paper from her hand and giving her an inquisitive look. 

She knew that he knew what day was _that_ day. Today was the birthday of Team 7 and she usually became nostalgic those days, often spending the entire day at their graves. He didn’t like seeing her like that, it felt like coming back to those early years after their deaths, but he knew there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it. 

She gave him a soft smile. “I’ll probably meet up with Kakashi at the same place and then go to my apartment I guess”.

“Okay” he nodded and hesitated. “Sakura?”.

“Yes?”.

“If you need anything, just tell me okay? I can tell Temari and stay at your place tonight”.

“I know I can count on you Shika” She smiled. “I’ll be okay, you know I wouldn’t do anything”.

“I know that... I just really worry about you”. 

She got up from her chair and moved to pull him in a tight hug. 

“Thank you, for all you have done for me”.

He hugged her back. “You don’t have anything to thank me for”.

“I’ll see you tomorrow” she said pulling away and looking at him.

“Yeah, we have a very fun three hour meeting tomorrow” He said mischievously. 

“Tell me again _why_ did I take this position”. She requested, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“Umm because you are the best…?” He sort of asked, shrugging.

“Yeah, _right_ ” She said sarcastically.

“It will be a drag but it’s our job”. He sighed

“I know” She rubbed her temples.

“Well, I better get going then”.

“See you Shika”.

“See you Sakura” He smiled and then disappeared through the door.

Sakura shook her head and then took off her Hokage cloak, she hated wearing it outside her office. She walked out of the Hokage tower, heading to the graveyard where Kakashi was surely waiting for her. 

* * *

Once she arrived however, she found out he wasn’t there yet. She rolled her eyes.

“I should’ve known better than to think he would arrive before me”. She muttered to herself.

She walked absently through the many rows of gravestones until she reached the two she was looking for. 

“Hey boys”. Her lips lightly curved upwards. 

Their graves always had flowers of every kind, put there by the villagers. People never forgot they were Konoha’s heroes and she made sure to keep it that way. Ino also made sure they were never out of pink camellias as a request from Sakura. She glanced at the graves and smiled, then she crouched down with more difficulty than she cared to admit. She caressed both graves, _‘I miss you both so much’._

“Sakura”.

A familiar voice called her and she turned her head to see a distinctive grey haired man. Upon reaching her, he helped her to her feet and smiled at her. 

“Thank you Kakashi”. She said steadying herself before crossing her arms. “You’re late”.

“Yeah, old habits” He scratched the back of his neck. 

She shook her head but smiled nonetheless. “How are you?”.

“I’m good, still enjoying my retirement”.

“How come you look way younger than me?”.

“That’s a secret my dearest Sakura-chan”. He said amused but then added in a more serious tone. “How are you doing?”.

“Aa you know me, I’m fine” She grinned at him.

“Sakura...”

She let out a shaky breath. “I miss them, like always, but that’s not new”.

She felt a familiar throbbing behind her eyes and cursed herself for it. She had come to hate crying in front of others, but the thing was that she actually _couldn’t_ bring herself to cry anymore. It was like she had gone dry after all she had cried for them. So aside of the _feeling_ of wanting to cry, nothing more ever happened.

He sighed and pulled her into a hug. “I know kid, I miss them too”.

She buried her face in his chest. “It doesn’t matter how many years have passed, it hurts just like the first day”.

“It doesn’t stop. We can only wait” He said sweetly pushing her away to look at her face. “Wait until we can meet them again, and be sure to live fully for them”.

She smiled at him. “Thank you Kakashi-Sensei, you always make me feel better”.

“It’s been _years_ Sakura, you don’t have to call me sensei anymore”. He snickered awkwardly.

“I’m sorry, old habits I guess?” She offered innocently. 

“Sure...” He said skeptically, then he pulled out a bottle of sake. “Shall we?”.

“We shall” She nodded, handing him two cups that she took out of her purse.

Kakashi poured the liquid in the two cups and gave her one. Both of them stared at the graves with the names of their loved teammates and then looked at each other, raising their cups. 

“To Team 7” Both said. 

They stayed there for a while, catching up on their lives and remembering past days. After some time, Kakashi said his goodbyes, gave Sakura a hug and kiss in the forehead and then left her alone. She lasted a few minutes longer before staring lovingly at the graves once more. 

“I’ll see you guys, I love you”.

And then left. She wandered around the village without having really a destination, she just wanted to walk and clear her mind. Many people greeted her and smiled in her direction, some even bothered to thank her for doing such a great work. She blushed, she would never get used to that attention. 

After walking aimlessly for some time, lost in thought, she found herself in the training ground number 7. ‘ _I haven’t been in here in years’_ she thought marveled looking around. To be honest she was quite surprised it was still standing after all these years even when there were new and better training grounds. Of course, it was worn out and quite unattended, but still standing despite all odds. 

The sun was setting down already but she didn’t care. She walked around the field, remembering all the time Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi and her spend in that place, recalling all the happy moments of her youth in that training ground and she couldn’t help but laugh. 

She then reached a familiar tree, sat down below it and laid her back to its trunk. She gazed at the dying sun and then closed her eyes, feeling content for a moment, her mind providing her comforting memories. A sudden sharp pain went through the side of her head, lasted a few seconds and faded away. She didn’t think too much about it as she let herself drift to a peaceful slumber, not noticing the silent liquid rolling down her cheeks after so many years. 

* * *

She doesn’t know how long she slept. There was a bright light behind her eyelids so she was pretty sure it was morning now. ‘ _Shikamaru is going to murder me if I’m late for that meeting’_ she thought but still, she just wanted to sleep a little bit more. She came to terms with the fact that she would have to deal with a very pissed off Shikamaru and continued to sleep some more, that, until she felt someone poking her. 

“Sakura”

‘ _Let me sleep’._

“Sakura-chan”.

_‘Stop it’_

“Wake up”.

_‘Leave me alone for just a minute!’_

“Saku-“.

“WHAT?!”. She snapped, opening her eyes. 

It was kind of funny how her mind processed the sight before her. Even when it happened quickly, the order of how things registered in her mind was rather hilarious and absurd. The first thing she realized was that she was right, it was daytime now, maybe noon, judging by how bright everything was. The second thing her mind noted was that she was still in the training ground 7, but this one seemed new, like the way it was back in her genin days instead of the abandoned one she had fell asleep in. And finally, the third thing her mind registered, was the two figures crouching before her. 

Once her eyes landed and focused on the two men that were staring worryingly at her, her heart stopped and raced at the same time. She looked at them in utter disbelief, her mind not believing what was in front of her, because right there were Naruto and Sasuke in all their glory. Both of them looked exactly the same as they did in that horrible day when they said goodbye to her with a broken promise, however, they weren’t sporting their usual shinobi uniforms but they were wearing what seemed like an adaptation of their childhood clothes. They didn’t have blood or bruises like the last time she had seen their faces, they were all cleaned and just so... _beautiful_. The two of them were staring at her, Naruto with his impossibly blue eyes and gorgeous smile, and Sasuke with those deep onyx pools and handsome smirk. 

Her chest swelled, she suddenly felt warm and for the first time in a long time, she could feel actual tears rolling down her cheeks but she didn’t care. _Nothing_ else mattered in that moment because _they_ were there, she was seeing them after so so many years of pain and longing. Without a second thought, she threw herself in their arms, hugging both of them with each arm. 

“I-It’s you, y-you are h-here” She sniffed between sobs, hugging them tighter, afraid that they might disappear in any moment. 

“Yeah Sakura-chan! But-“ Naruto said gasping . 

“Sakura...we can’t breathe” Sasuke said in a strangled voice. 

“I’m s-sorry” She stuttered, letting them go. 

She wiped away her tears and looked back at them. They were smiling at her and she smiled back, but sadly, the moment didn’t last long. Another feeling began to boil within her: anger, abandonment and sorrow. She knew that shouldn’t matter anymore but she couldn’t help it. Another wave of tears began to form in her eyes. 

“You promised it!” She yelled at them, tears falling freely down her cheeks again. “You promised that you would come back safe and you _lied_!”.

She glanced down at her hands, not wanting to meet their gaze just yet and without really knowing why. She knew it wasn’t their fault but she felt betrayed. 

“You left me alone” She whispered so lightly she thought they didn’t hear her, but they did. 

Sasuke and Naruto crossed gazes for a moment, worried and guilty expressions mirroring in the face of the other. They knew exactly how she felt, they knew her like the palm of their hands, after all, she was the woman they both loved with their entire souls. They took a deep breath and got closer, sitting at each side of her. 

“We never left your side Sakura” Sasuke’s voice beside her ear startled her, making her shiver. 

“We were always with you, even if you couldn’t see us” Naruto continued on her other side. 

She looked up at both of them, wide jade eyes clashing with blue and black. “What?”.

“Since the moment we died, we were by your side Sakura” Naruto smiled sadly, kissing her shoulder. “We were there when they took our bodies back to the hospital and you tried everything you could to bring us back”.

“We were there all those days where you wouldn’t eat and you would cry yourself to sleep” Sasuke kept going, wiping away the tears off her face with his fingers. 

“It pained us watching you like that and not being able to do anything to make you feel better” Naruto mumbled with a hint of hurt in his voice. 

“But we were also there when you began to heal, to recover and be yourself again” Sasuke took her hand in between his. “We watched you become the best healer in the world and save everyone you touched”.

“We were by your side when you became Hokage and brought peace to the village” Naruto beamed at her, taking her other hand in his. “And we never felt prouder of you Sakura-chan”. 

“You became everything we wanted to be and more. You were stronger than we could ever be” Sasuke smirked. “Also annoying”.

She glared at him. “You just had to ruin it, don’t you?”.

“Hn”.

“The teme is a jerk but what he’s saying is true” Naruto glared at Sasuke too before smiling at Sakura. “You were never the weaker one”.

Sakura was at lost for words. They never left her alone, they were with her the entire time. She couldn’t believe it, but now that she thought about it, there were many times when things happened that she just couldn’t explain. Sudden brushes on her skin when she cried, inexplicable wind breezes when she felt she couldn’t breathe and unexpected warmth on her hands when she felt like just giving up. All of that, it was _them_. 

“We are sorry we broke our promise, but we never left you” Naruto said staring at her eyes. 

That was all it took for her to start crying again, louder this time, her body trembling with each sob. They held her while she cried, caressing her arms and stroking her long pink hair, until she finally calmed down. 

“Thank you...for never leaving me” She muttered.

“We told you we would wait for you, didn’t we?” Naruto grinned.

She smiled back at him. “Yeah you did. Took me long enough though”.

“It was worth the wait” Sasuke took her chin to make her look at him and kissed her, a kiss that told her how much he had missed her. Once he pulled away, he saw the blush tinting her cheeks.

“Teme!”.

“What?” Sasuke shrugged. 

Naruto glared at him and sighed, then he took her hand again. “Thank you...for becoming Hokage, I know you didn’t really wanted that”. 

She furrowed her eyebrows. “You don’t ha-“.

But she didn’t get to finish her sentence as Naruto crashed his lips to hers, taking all her breath away. When he pulled away, she was blushing again. ‘ _Damn these idiots’_ , she thought but the truth is she hadn’t realized until now just how much she had missed their touch. 

“You know, I don’t think you’d have liked it”. She teased him. 

“Liked what?” Naruto asked completely confused.

“Being Hokage”. 

“Why?”. He asked quizzically. 

“Too much paperwork”. 

Naruto scrunched his face. “I hate paperwork”.

“I know” She said kissing him in the cheek. “But I know you would have been better than me”. 

She then looked at Sasuke and kissed him on the cheek too. 

“And you would have probably helped him” she thought about it for a moment. “From afar, I know you don’t enjoy the attention”.

“Hn”.

After a moment both of them got up and looked at her, extending their hands for her. She stared at them, finally feeling genuinely happy again, and took their hands allowing them to put her on her feet. 

“Come, there’s something I want to do” Naruto began walking towards the village.

“What?” She inquired, following him. 

“I’ve been wanting you to formally meet my parents for quite some time” He said cheerfully.

She felt the heat start to creep up her cheeks again and stopped on her tracks. “Umm..”.

“Don’t worry Sakura-chan, they will love you” Naruto assured her. 

“The dobe is right” Sasuke intervened, then smirked smugly. “Besides, then I’ll be taking you to meet my family”. 

She was sure her entire face was red now but slowly a smile formed in her lips. This was all she ever wanted, this was her heaven and she was going to enjoy every last bit. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and took their hands in hers. 

“I would love to meet your families boys” She said looking at both men. 

Naruto and Sasuke smirked down at her and began their way towards the village, the two of them holding tight to her hands. A few minutes passed before she broke the comfortable silence. 

“And what will we do after that?”.

“Whatever you want to do” Naruto commented. 

“We have all the time in the universe” Sasuke added. 

“As long as we are together”. She said firmly, holding onto their arms this time. 

“Of course”. Naruto glanced at her.

“Do you promise? You promise me we will never be apart again?” She stared at both, searching for any sign of doubt, but she found none. 

“We promise we will never leave you again” Sasuke stated, staring back at her with devotion in his eyes.

“No matter what, we will always be together” Naruto carried on, a solemn promise in his eyes. 

In that moment she just knew they weren’t lying this time, she knew that every word that left their mouths was true. She lifted their hands and gently kissed the back of them. 

“I love you both” She closed her eyes, letting them lead the way. 

“We love you too” Both answered.

With that she felt whole again. She was finally where she belonged: with _them_ , and she never felt so _alive_. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe again. 

They kept walking, the three of them sharing one thought. 

‘ _We are finally together again’._

And they would _always_ be. 


End file.
